Fantasy Baseball Sleepers 2012: Pitchers Guaranteed to Carry You to Playoffs

Every fantasy baseball team needs a strong pitching rotation, and one of the keys to sustainable success into the playoffs is finding sleepers to fill out your roster.

It can be tough to find good sleepers, though. Especially pitchers. It sometimes feels like you're trying to find a needle in the haystack.

Here are three sleepers guaranteed to carry you to the playoffs.

Steven Strasburg 

Strasburg won't be taken until the later rounds. It's a shame, too, because he's going to be a solid starter all year long.

The reason he's going to be overlooked is due to the fact that he's coming off of major surgery—specifically Tommy John surgery.

He has looked strong during spring training, further confirming what I saw at the end of last year: He is coming back stronger than ever.

Strasburg was one of the most hyped pitchers ever when he was coming up a couple of years ago, and for good reason. He finished off the year after coming back with a 24:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and with an entire offseason to strengthen his shoulder he should be primed for a monster year.

Yu Darvish

You should be able to score Darvish well past round 10. People are scared he might end up like another Dice-K, and you should snag him up before he starts vaulting up the board.

Darvish looked strong in spring training. His latest outing had him striking out 11 batters for the Texas Rangers in six innings vs. the Colorado Rockies.

Another plus for drafting Darvish is that you're essentially drafting the Rangers' bats as well. He might have some nights where he gives up some runs but ends up winning because the Rangers scored more.

Daniel Bard

The Red Socks have a potent offense. They put up runs, making pitchers' lives easier.

Bard has nasty stuff. He should give you close to a strikeout an inning, and he'll give you at least 12 wins.

He's the ultimate sleeper, and you may be able to get him after the draft. Nobody thinks about him, but pitching for the Boston Red Socks has its benefits.

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